Difference between revisions of "Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company"

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| primary_business = Cannery
 
| primary_business = Cannery
 
| primary_dates = 1882 - 1888
 
| primary_dates = 1882 - 1888
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| aliases = Los Gatos Canning Company
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| successors = [[Hunt Brothers Packing Company]]
 
}}
 
}}
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The '''Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company''' was an early fruit canner in Los Gatos, CA.  The company was founded in 1882 by fourteen Los Gatos residents  Officers were Samuel Templeton, president; James E. Gordon, secretary: J. W. Lyndon, treasurer; Robert Walker and Michael Miller, directors<ref>  Sawyers, Eugene T. History of Santa Clara County, 1922, Historic Record Company. [http://www.sfgenealogy.com/santaclara/history/scchist12.htm Chapter 12].</ref>.  The initial plant a 60 x 80 foot building was on North Santa Cruz Ave between Bean Ave. and Main Street, with the buildings eventually extending all the way to Lyndon Ave; that initial plant could handle about 5,000 cases of fruit in a season.  The company shipped 18 cars of canned fruit in the 1886 season<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=plUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7aMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288,1407884&dq=cannery+los+gatos&hl=en San Jose Daily News]</ref>.  The first incarnation of the company went bankrupt in 1888.
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Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company was then bought by by San Francisco-based D. L. Beck and Son, which added a spur connecting it to the railroad and increased production to 50,000 cases of fruit annually, employing 250 to 300 workers during the peak season.  <ref>Los Gatos Planning Department document</ref>.  [[George H. Hooke]] was the superintendent of the cannery for many years  In 1907, the cannery was moved to the northeast corner of Santa Cruz and Saratoga Ave. when it was purchased by [[Hunt Brothers Packing Company]].  Hunts doubled the plant's capacity.
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Peaches were a common crop for the cannery, both in early days and in early days and as late as the early 1930's<ref>
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[http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=PRP18980813.2.14&cl=CL2.1898.08&srpos=0&dliv=none&st=1&e=-------en-logical-20--1-----all--- August 13, 1898 Pacific Rural Press]  "Peach Canning - San Jose Mercury, Aug. 7: The Los Gatos cannery is now running on the peach crop. The last few days of cool weather have been a great help to fruit raisers on account of the fruit ripening more slowly and giving the growers and packers a better chance to handle it."
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The 1907-era buildings may still exist, repurposed as stores on the northeast corner of Santa Cruz and Saratoga.
  
 
==Locations==
 
==Locations==
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|-
 
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| Los Gatos || 1890, 1893, 1907 || [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Santa%20Cruz%20Avenue%20%281890%2C%201893%2C%201907%29,Los%20Gatos Santa Cruz Avenue (1890, 1893, 1907)] ||  
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| Los Gatos || 1890, 1893, 1907 || [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=57%20Santa%20Cruz%20Avenue%20%281890%2C%201893%2C%201907%29,Los%20Gatos 57 N. Santa Cruz Avenue (1890, 1893, 1907)] ||  
Santa Cruz Avenue  (Los Gatos Canning Company)
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  (Los Gatos Canning Company)
  
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
==Details==
 
 
Founded in 1882,  went bankrupt by 1888.
 
  
[http://www.sfgenealogy.com/santaclara/history/scchist12.htm History]
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==Photos==
From LG Planing: "In 1882, fourteen residents of Los Gatos formed the
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[http://www.historylosgatos.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Hamsher/id/41/rec/17 Sketch of plant, 1900]
Los Gatos Fruit Company and constructed a large plant on a parcel
 
spanning Santa Cruz Avenue to the east and Lyndon Avenue to the west,
 
between Bean Avenue to the south and W. Main Street to the
 
north. Although the Los Gatos Canning Company plant could produce 5,000
 
cases of canned fruit seasonally, it went out of business and was
 
purchased by San Francisco-based D. L. Beck and Son, which added a
 
spur connecting it to the railroad and increased production to 50,000
 
cases of fruit annually, employing 250 to 300 workers during the peak
 
season. It remained at this location until 1907 when the Hunt Brothers
 
of Hayward, California, purchased the company and moved it to Santa
 
Cruz and Saratoga Avenues. It doubled the plant's capacity and
 
continued to be a leading employer in Los Gatos for many years."
 
  
[http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=PRP18980813.2.14&cl=CL2.1898.08&srpos=0&dliv=none&st=1&e=-------en-logical-20--1-----all--- August 13, 1898 Pacific Rural Press] 
 
"Peach Canning-an Jose Mercury, Aug. 7: The Los Gatos cannery is now
 
running on the peach crop. The last few days of cool weather have been
 
a great help to fruit raisers on account of the fruit ripening more
 
slowly and giving the growers and packers a better chance to handle
 
it. The coming week will be the rush week for peaches, and the
 
institution will run day and night to handle the fruit. The system on
 
which the cannery has been run this season under the management of
 
George Hooke has enabled the cannery to handle more fruit and work
 
less hours than the seasons heretofore, and the fine quality of fruit
 
packed this year, with the great advance in price, will make this
 
season the banner year for both the growers and the cannery"
 
  
[[George H. Hooke]], superintendent in 1890.
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==References==
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<references/>
  
Shipped 18 cars of fruit in a week in March, 1886 (
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[[Category:Los Gatos]]
[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=plUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7aMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288,1407884&dq=cannery+los+gatos&hl=en San Jose Daily News] [[Category:Los Gatos]]
 
 
[[Category:Cannery]]
 
[[Category:Cannery]]

Revision as of 02:12, 30 October 2013

Summary
Business

Cannery
Active

1882 - 1888
Aliases

Los Gatos Canning Company
Successors

Hunt Brothers Packing Company

The Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company was an early fruit canner in Los Gatos, CA. The company was founded in 1882 by fourteen Los Gatos residents Officers were Samuel Templeton, president; James E. Gordon, secretary: J. W. Lyndon, treasurer; Robert Walker and Michael Miller, directors[1]. The initial plant a 60 x 80 foot building was on North Santa Cruz Ave between Bean Ave. and Main Street, with the buildings eventually extending all the way to Lyndon Ave; that initial plant could handle about 5,000 cases of fruit in a season. The company shipped 18 cars of canned fruit in the 1886 season[2]. The first incarnation of the company went bankrupt in 1888.

Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company was then bought by by San Francisco-based D. L. Beck and Son, which added a spur connecting it to the railroad and increased production to 50,000 cases of fruit annually, employing 250 to 300 workers during the peak season. [3]. George H. Hooke was the superintendent of the cannery for many years In 1907, the cannery was moved to the northeast corner of Santa Cruz and Saratoga Ave. when it was purchased by Hunt Brothers Packing Company. Hunts doubled the plant's capacity.

Peaches were a common crop for the cannery, both in early days and in early days and as late as the early 1930's<ref> August 13, 1898 Pacific Rural Press "Peach Canning - San Jose Mercury, Aug. 7: The Los Gatos cannery is now running on the peach crop. The last few days of cool weather have been a great help to fruit raisers on account of the fruit ripening more slowly and giving the growers and packers a better chance to handle it."

The 1907-era buildings may still exist, repurposed as stores on the northeast corner of Santa Cruz and Saratoga.

Locations

Location Years Address Details
Los Gatos None Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos 1890, 1893, 1907 57 N. Santa Cruz Avenue (1890, 1893, 1907)
 (Los Gatos Canning Company)

Photos

Sketch of plant, 1900


References

  1. Sawyers, Eugene T. History of Santa Clara County, 1922, Historic Record Company. Chapter 12.
  2. San Jose Daily News
  3. Los Gatos Planning Department document